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What sparks a poem? How long does it take for an idea to become a poem? In a dynamic series of essays, Inua Ellams shares his personal experience of creating poetry, taking the listener on five vivid and varied journeys. Each essay culminates in a poem from his most recent collection, The Actual.

Inua sets out the starting point and context for a poem, unpicking his relationship to its central themes, drawing on a wide range of social and cultural references. This is an in-depth and personal exploration of the process of creating individual poems from an award-winning young poet. Inua has the poet’s gift of homing in on the simple and small-scale elements of the bigger picture, to create a satisfying and well nuanced kaleidoscope of ideas and experience. Poetic Provocations invites the listener into a poet’s mind and process with refreshing honesty, warm wit, political analysis and insight.

Born in Nigeria in 1984, Inua Ellams is an internationally touring poet, playwright, performer, graphic artist and designer. He is an ambassador for the Ministry of Stories and his published books of poetry include Candy Coated Unicorns and Converse All Stars, Thirteen Fairy Negro Tales, The Wire-Headed Heathen, #Afterhours and The Half-God of Rainfall – an epic story in verse. His first play The 14th Tale was awarded a Fringe First at Edinburgh International Theatre Festival and his fourth, Barber Shop Chronicles, sold out two runs at England’s National Theatre. He is currently touring An Evening with an Immigrant and working on various commissions across stage and screen. He founded the Midnight Run in London, a nocturnal urban excursion, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature

Essay 1: Tupac / Elegy for a black music icon
Through the prism of a leading rapper, Inua explores his growth in political and racial awareness in understanding the nuances of hip-hop. The essay begins with his childhood in Nigeria and arrival in London the year Tupac died, but it was only when he lived in Ireland, hanging around the all-white basketball team who helped Inua make sense of Tupac’s lyrics, that he came to a fuller understanding of his legacy. The poem is a lament and elegy for a musician and icon who died too young.

Please note that this programme contains one instance of the use of racist language.

Essayist, Inua Ellams
Producer, Polly Thomas
Exec producer, Eloise Whitmore

A Naked Production for Â鶹Éç Radio 3

[Photo credit: Danny Kasirye]